George Mouser

Interim Management Services

According to Murphy's Law 'everything that can go wrong, will'. And at some time in their careers, most managers can testify to the operation of the Law on their designated key personnel, their cash flow projections, on their order book, their budgets or on their profit forecasts. In almost every business, the unexpected has from time to time derailed the most meticulous planning.

For example, where a full time Finance Director who had enthusiastically agreed to join an organisation only two months previously, then pulls out a week before the incumbent is due to leave because he has received a better offer. Likewise, behind every report in the financial press of the discovery of an accounting 'black hole' or profit warning threatening to downgrade a company's credit rating, lies an emergency demanding urgent and effective action.

However, although crises may appear to materialise out of the blue, the causes very often lie in bad management which has allowed situations to develop and deteriorate over a period of time. It is rare for Murphy's Law to operate successfully without any prior warning signs. In short, it is usually unreasonable to blame Murphy's.

What's the solution?

• To employ a career interim manager. I am not filling in time between permanent jobs, but am a professional with membership of recognised interim management and turnaround associations.
• These memberships give me contacts with lawyers, bankers, specialists in human resources and other financial organisations concerned with the turnaround business.
• I prefer to undertake only one assignment at at a time so that I can concentrate fully on the client's requirements. My contracts typically last from 6 to 9 months and I am therefore available to start at very short notice if I do not have any current commitments.
• I haven't sought to specialise in one type of business because experience has taught me that it is more important to implement principles of good management than to possess detailed knowledge of any given industrial or commercial sector. However, I prefer to work in small to medium sized organisations
• I am used to assimilating a client's problems rapidly and reporting to the Board with proposed solutions. I can adopt a 'hands on' approach if required, but can also delegate and have a proven record in achieving greatly improved cash flows, productivity, cost efficiencies and management information.
• Once I've completed an assignment the Board can be satisfied that the cost represents an investment in the management and IT systems of the business.

• If a change of personnel has been necessary, I have a wide network of contacts from whom to choose a full time successor and am accustomed to do the interviewing myself and to compile a shortlist. Once my successor is in place, the hand over is a professional operation as I have a vested interest in its success. In contrast, many a full time departing manager has often something of an axe to grind and, truth to tell, would not be heartbroken if his successor were a failure. This is definitively not so with an interim manager.

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